Close to You
by InfiniteUniverses
Summary: Why do stars fall down from above, every time you walk by, just like me, they long to be, close to you-collection of Erlu drabbles-Chapter 5: Wisdom: Erza has to get her wisdom teeth removed.
1. Nightmares

Erza wakes up with a start, breathing heavy as the nightmares recede and she regains her bearings. She's safe, in her shared bedroom, alone. The emptiness of the bed next to her take priority over the nightmare (which she doesn't even want to think about) so Erza rolls out of the bed and wanders off towards the office.

Just as Erza predicted, Lucy is still writing. Lucy's hunched over her messy desk, illuminated by the small desk lamp, alternating between typing out sentences and referring to her notes. Erza softly smiles, it's slightly amusing how easily Lucy loses track of the time due to her dedication to her story.

Erza turns on the floor lamp near the door, but even that doesn't faze Lucy. It usually doesn't. Erza saunters across the room up to behind Lucy's chair and drapes her arms over Lucy's shoulders. She leans down to kiss the spot on Lucy's neck, right below her ear, where she's ticklish. Lucy squirms, yet she still decides to acknowledge Erza's presence.

"Hey," Lucy speaks softly, craning her neck to look up at Erza. "I thought you said you were going to bed."

"I did," Erza counters. "It's two AM."

The quaint smile falls from Lucy's face, "Oh shit. Sorry. Shit."

"It's okay," Erza murmurs while she kisses Lucy's cheek. "Will you come to bed now?"

"Yeah. Let me save everything and I'll be right there," Lucy promises.

Erza pulls herself away from Lucy and returns to her spot in the doorway to wait. She watches as Lucy flitters around, jotting down her last thoughts on sticky notes, saving the document three times, marking her place in her notebook, saving her document one last time, and finally she's done.

"You didn't have to wait," Lucy insists once she leaves her desk.

"I wanted to," Erza argues as she turns off the light. They head into the bedroom in darkness, leaving the moonbeams as their only light, "Besides, the bed is lonely without you."

"Well, I still have to go to the bathroom so really, don't wait up," Lucy says as she disappears into the master bath.

Erza returns to their bed, only to sit on the edge. She would wait, because she didn't want to face her dreams again alone.

Lucy comes out of the bathroom about ten minutes later, dressed in her pjs and hair in a bun. She looks surprised to see Erza still up, but then understanding dawns on her face. She climbs into bed and Erza leans into the crook over neck. As Lucy starts to run her fingers through Erza's hair, Erza wraps her arms around Lucy's waist. They pause to settle before they begin to talk.

"Did a nightmare wake you up?" Lucy questions.

"Yes," Erza admits.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly. I just need you here right now."

"Then I won't leave you for the rest of the night. I love you."

"I love you too."

They fall into a comfortable silence, and Erza slowly manages to push the nightmare out of her mind as she listens to the beating of Lucy's heart. Eventually, she drifts into a peaceful sleep.


	2. Sick Days

It starts off as an average morning. Erza wakes up before Lucy and makes coffee. She comes back to the master bedroom to convince Lucy to get out of bed with a fresh cup of coffee. After downing a whole cup of coffee, Lucy can begin to make breakfast while she and Erza talk. It seemed normal.

"-And so, I guess they're bringing Grace and Will back," Erza says as she skims through the Sorcerer's Weekly issue lying on the table. She sounds a bit stuffed, which Lucy at first thought that she was just groggy, but it hasn't worn off. "Are you interested in that?"

"I never really watched it," Lucy comments. She quickly diverts the subject, "Are you okay? You sound like you're a bit stuffed."

"It's allergies," Erza quickly waves off.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You've never had allergies before."

"You can develop them."

Lucy raises a skeptical eyebrow, but Erza isn't looking, more focused on the magazine. That's also strange, Erza doesn't care much for Sorcerer's Weekly aside from reading any articles Lucy wrote (and she hasn't written for them in a couple months) and if she's bored. Erza's trying to hide something.

"Oh, that reminds me. Alzack and Bisca want us to watch Asuka next week," Erza continues. "I know you usually don't mind but I wanted to . . . to . . . ACHOO!"

Lucy jumps slightly, surprised at the volume of Erza's sneeze. Lucy pauses from making pancakes to hand over the tissue box. Erza mumbles a thank-you as she takes a tissue and blows her nose, which is loud and gross because Lucy can hear all the snot coming out. It at least confirms that yeah, Erza's sick.

"You're sure you're sure that you're feeling okay?" Lucy checks, one last time.

Erza blows her nose a second time (it somehow sounds worse), "Positive."

Lucy sighs. They're going to do it the hard way.

Lucy finishes making pancakes, and during this time Erza has sneezed three more times and gone into one coughing fit. Lucy doesn't ask any more questions, as Erza doesn't seem like she wants to admit that she's sick. It's probably because Erza insists on being strong all the time, but Lucy thought that they moved beyond that. They have been dating for almost three years, and known each other for years before that. She's held Erza at night when the nightmares get too bad, they've seen almost every side of one another, and Lucy once watched Erza chase a squirrel that stole a strawberry from their picnic.

"Breakfast's ready," Lucy announces. She places a stack of strawberry pancakes in front of Erza, pauses to lean over, brushes a few scarlet locks out of the way, and kisses Erza's forehead.

"Thank-you," Erza replies, placing a quick kiss on Lucy's cheek before digging in.

Lucy sits across from Erza, but before she begins eating, she asks, "So you're sure you're feeling okay?"

Erza sighs, "Yes, Lucy, I do."

"Because you have a fever."

" . . . What?"

Lucy smiles slyly, "Your forehead feels like it's hotter than the sun."

Erza gasps and stares at Lucy as though she just betrayed her. Lucy just gives her a smug grin, deciding to revel in this for a few seconds. Finally, Erza clears her throat (which sounds like it's backed up with something), and admits, "I may have a cold."

"You are sick," Lucy corrects. "It's not just cold."

"It may be a cold," Erza insists. "But it's fine. We have a job to go on today. I can shrug it off." Erza holds herself together for one minute before she starts into another hacking fit. Lucy gets up and gets her a glass of water, which she accepts happily. Once Erza regains herself, she emphasizes, "I'll be perfectly fine."

Lucy gives Erza a look, and argues, "You are sick, you have a fever, and we can miss one job. Natsu and Gray will be fine on their own."

Erza quirks an eyebrow at Lucy, "Please rethink the last thing you said."

". . . They have Happy?"

"I'll be fine!"

Lucy doesn't say anything else, as she's trying to come up with a good way to argue against Erza. However, whatever her thinking look is must be brooding/pouting enough that it manages to buckle Erza's resolve without Lucy even trying. Either that or Erza came to her senses, because she sneezed into a tissue and a huge glob of snot came out.

"Okay," Erza sighs. "I have a cold."

"You're sick."

"A cold," Erza repeats. "So, I'll stay home. But you have to go on the job."

"No."

Erza cocks her head at Lucy, she forgot that Lucy can be stubborn too, "I'll be fine."

"Yes, but you're sick-"

"-It's a cold-"

"-And I want to make sure that you stay okay," Lucy says. "And are you that against of me taking care of you for a day or two?"

Erza pauses, but she's clearly reconsidering. One coughing fit later, Erza concedes, "Fine. Only because my throat feels like it's been clawed up by a wild cat."

"See?" Lucy says as she stands up. "You are sick."

"I'm not," Erza mumbles as she finishes up her pancakes.

"But you are."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm-ACHOO!"

"You're sick."

"Okay, maybe a little."


	3. Vigilantes' Roadtrip

This one is a Superhero AU! Please leave a comment to keep me alive! Enjoy!

* * *

No one really suspects much when the motorcycle carrying two women pull into the gas station parking lot, which is exactly what Lucy wanted for this trip. To just travel around on their own, without having to deal with work.

Lucy parks it, and once it's stopped Erza steps off. She takes the helmet off, scarlet tresses falling down, and pouts, "As much as I love clinging to you, I will get to drive this eventually, right?"

Lucy takes off her own helmet so she can deliver a quick, "Hell no."

"There's no one on the roads up here-" Erza argues.

"You don't have a motorcycle license," Lucy lists. "And after you, then my keys, I care about my motorcycle the most. And I love you, but there's a reason Natsu hates driving with you the most."

Erza's pout deepens, so Lucy has to look away. She pulls out her wallet, and hands Erza forty bucks, "Can you get me gas? And snacks."

"Any specific kind?" Erza asks.

"Something sugary and bad for me," Lucy says. "You should get something too. We're on vacation. Treat yourself."

"Maybe," Erza says. She takes the money and walks away into the store. A couple of minutes later, Lucy's able to use the pump.

As Lucy fills up the tank, she watches a silver car pull up to the adjacent pump. A man with spikey silver hair steps out. Lucy swears she recognizes him from somewhere, she just can't place her finger on it.

She waits for Erza to return, now carrying a bag of gas station junk food, to inquiry, "Don't be too obvious, but does that guy with the silver car look familiar to you?"

Erza is completely obvious, whipping her head around and staring at the man for a few, long, seconds. She turns back to Lucy and whispers, "Yes, I think that's the guy who tried to activate Lullaby."

"Oh right," Lucy realizes. "That was our first mission together, right?"

Erza smiles, "It was. I'm glad the agency partnered us for that mission."

"Don't forget Gray and Natsu were there too, messing things up," Lucy adds. "Though, speaking of forgetting, what was that Lullaby guy's name?"

"I think it was Eri . . . something," Erza answers.

"Eridan?" Lucy guesses.

Erza frowns as she thinks, but finally she declares, "Erivore."

"Definitely not that," Lucy says. "But it's close. I think it's Erigor."

"Regardless of his name, he still has a warrant out for his arrest," Erza points out. She sighs, "We're going to have to deal with this."

Lucy frowns, the whole point of this road trip was to avoid work. But, evil never sleeps, and so neither can justice. She suggests, "Okay, you go sneak off and requip. I'll call the police to pick him up."

"You've gotten stronger from our first mission, much stronger, you could take him out as well," Erza insists. However, Lucy doesn't need a confidence boost right now. Rather, she just wants to get back on the road.

"Yes, thank-you, but you could do it faster," Lucy argues.

Erza smirks, "Then let's see. Rock, paper, scissor. I win, you go fight. You win, I go fight."

"Okay," Lucy agrees. It's better to solve it quickly in a trivial manner than argue in circles, especially since Erza can be stubborn.

They quickly shake their hands, and Erza's scissors beats Lucy's paper. Erza smirks and Lucy says, "After you call the police, protect my bike."

"Nothing will happen to it under my watch," Erza promises.

Lucy stomps away into the surrounding forest. Once she can't see the gas station, she pulls out her keys and focuses on the magic inside. In a flash of golden light, she's transformed into the superhero Celestial.

She jumps up into the sky, decreasing the gravity on herself so she can clear the trees. She increases it once she's over the gas station and drops right in front of Erigor.

Erigor stares at her in shock, and before she can even make a quip, he hisses, "Shit," and tries to run.

Lucy changes the sign on her gauntlet to Virgo and a whip extends from her hand. She catches him by the wrist and pulls him back, "I'm glad you recognize me, because I almost didn't recognize you. Lucky for me, I did."

Erigor scowls, "Yeah, hard to forget the mask of one of the assholes that put me in jail. Though, you didn't really do much, didja newbie?'

Lucy bristles, "I'm not exactly a newbie anymore, so if you try anything funny, you're going to regret it."

Erigor grins and wrenches himself away from her grip. He creates a wind barrier around himself, trying to block Lucy from touching him. He's apparently forgotten what she did the first time.

She keeps the gauntlet on Virgo and points it at the ground. A hole appears beneath her, and Lucy jumps in so she can be below Erigor. She creates another hole right below him, decreases her gravity as he falls down, and grabs him by the collar of his shirt as she flies up. She knocks him into the roof of the gas station then let's go of him. He crashes into the ground, but somehow still manages to stand. Increasing her gravity, she drops down, kicking her leg across his face.

Erigor is still standing, and is well enough to push Lucy back with a strong gale. He scowls and creates another cyclone, this one tighter around himself and lifting him off the ground. It starts to grow to cause general destruction, so Lucy switches to Leo and shoots light beams into the whirlwinds. A few hit Erigor square in the chest, knocking him down and weakening the winds.

Changing from Leo to Capricorn-a golden ram's head forming around the end of her fists-Lucy charges at Erigor, and strikes the ram right across his face. He spins in the air as he collapses on the ground, finally down for the count.

Lucy drags Erigor over to the pump and begins to tie him up with a hose. She catches Erza giving her a thumbs-up as she does so, so she nods back. With Erigor restrained, Lucy blasts back off into the forest. She de-transforms and heads back to the station.

Lucy ignores the approaching sirens, the gaping jaws of the bystanders, and the unconscious form of Erigor. She instead focuses on Erza sitting in the driver's spot of her motorcycle with a smug smile plastered on her face.

"Let's go," Erza declares, handing Lucy a helmet.

"You're not driving," Lucy plainly states. Erza pouts, but no amount of pouting will make Lucy want to let her drive her motorcycle. "Move, please," Lucy adds. Erza doesn't for a moment, in a small protest, but scoots back. Lucy takes the front seat and puts on her helmet.

"You did a great job," Erza says. " . . . But I still think I could drive your motorcycle."

"No way," Lucy argues. "And pout your helmet on."

"Alright," Erza sighs. She puts the helmet on, but adds, "Let's go find a hotel. Watching you fight is pretty hot."

Lucy flips her visor down so Erza couldn't see her blush. She revs the engine, and waits for Erza to grab on. Erza's arms slide around her waist and hold on tight as she pulls away from the gas station and onto the road, back onto their journey together.


	4. Fools In Love

"Looks like someone has a cruuush~!"

Erza stares at the gloating smirk on Mira's face and scoffs, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think she's talking about your obvious crush on Lucy," Cana interjects.

Erza almost chokes on her cheesecake, but she manages not to make a fool of herself. She grumbles, "It's not obvious."

Or maybe she will make a fool of herself.

"Oh, so you do have a crush," Mira chimes, her sweet smile mocking Erza.

"And yeah, it's so obvious," Cana continues. "You continue to shoot forlorn glances in her direction like a love-sick puppy."

"Don't forget, last time you got piss drunk, you started to wax poetic about how strong and amazing and beautiful Lucy was once you chased everyone else away," Mira concludes.

Erza scowls at the two women, "So I may have a tiny-"

"-Ginormous-" Cana corrects.

"-crush on Lucy," Erza says. "But that doesn't matter."

"How so?" Mira questions. "Because in my honest opinion, you should go over there and proclaim your love right now. Maybe even use some of your drunken material."

Erza frowns and shoots a glance at Lucy. She's animatedly talking with Natsu, her bright smile lighting up the guild. It would be a bad idea.

"You're doing the love-sick puppy thing again," Cana points out.

"I am not," Erza hisses.

"If you say so," Cana rolls her eyes. She begins to take a long gulp of beer, "So why won't ya go an' ask her out?"

"I'm pretty sure she's straight," Erza mutters.

Cana suddenly makes a strange strangulated sound, cross between a snort and a sputter. Mira is already handing her a napkin when she groans, "Beer came out of my fuckin' nose!"

"Ow," Laxus mumbles from the side. The noise she made was so loud that it not only attracted the attention of the rest of the guild, but Laxus while he's wearing his headphones.

"Are you okay?" Erza checks.

"The beer comin' outta my nose hurts like a bitch," Cana begins. "But the real problem is that you think Lucy is straight."

Erza blanks, her brain does not compute, "She . . . isn't?"

"Hell no!" Cana exclaims. "Like, fuck, one time we were at my place and she got wasted and started talking about how big of a lesbian she is. She was just havin' trouble sayin' lesbian, so instead she just yelled 'girls'."

"O-oh," Erza's world has just been turned upside down, and for her it's a good thing.

"And," Cana shakes Erza's shoulder to get her attention again. "In case you were wonderin'," Cana pauses and winks, "She ain't a virgin either."

Erza turns back to her cheesecake suddenly to hide her blush. She doesn't know what to do with that information.

"Cana, don't break her," Mira chastises Cana, who is currently giggling into her tankard. She turns to Erza and advises, "You should just go tell her."

x

"Natsu she's so beautiful and cute what do I doo!?" Lucy wails to one of her best friends, who is currently staring blankly at her after she spent the past twenty-one minutes talking about her big gay crush on Erza.

Natsu just shrugs.

Lucy groans and collapses at the table and looks up from her arms just in time so see her other and more competent best friend walk by. Lucy strikes out and grabs onto Levy's arm as she passes by and tugs her down, "Levy, thank Mavis, I need your help."

Levy raises an eyebrow, not sure what's brought on Lucy's urgency, but sits down next to Natsu, "Lu, what's going on?"

Lucy takes a deep breath, "I don't know why I asked Natsu first, of all people-"

"-Hey! -" Natsu interrupts.

"-But," Lucy continues. "How the fuck do I get Erza to notice my gay-ass crush on her?"

Levy blinks once, then suggests, "Have you tried asking her out on a date?"

"Very sensible, but I don't know if she likes me back and I don't want to make a fool of myself-" Lucy begins to ramble.

"Got it," Levy cuts her off. "But, I think Erza has a 'gay-ass crush' on you too."

"Really?" Lucy questions.

Levy nods her head, "Yep, she's been glancing over at you like a love-sick puppy all day. You probably haven't noticed because your back is to her."

"Oh, yeah," Natsu realizes. "I thought it was weird she kept on looking over here."

Lucy glares at Natsu, "This is why I shouldn't have asked you first," She turns back to Levy, "So should I do?"

"Well, just to check, you should give her a flirty look the next time she looks over here," Levy suggests. "Y'know, toss your hair and give her a flirty smile."

"Okay," Lucy takes a deep breath. "Tell me when to go."

"Alright," Levy waits. ". . . Go."

Lucy looks over her shoulder and brushes her hair of the way. As Levy said, Erza is looking right at her. Lucy waits a beat, flashes a smile, and turns back to her friends.

"Man, Levy, you're good!" Natsu exclaims before Lucy gets a chance to ask about the results. "Erza's face is almost as red as her hair!"

"And Mira had to snap her fingers to get Erza's attention," Levy grins. "Erza's definitely smitten."

"Great!" Lucy celebrates. "Now what?"

"Wait a bit, then go ask her out," Levy advises. "She is totally into you, so why waste any more time? Maybe leave at the same time as her, pretending it's a coincident, and ask her once you're away from the guild, so there's no one snooping around."

"Levy, that's an amazing plan!" Lucy leans over to hug her friends. "You're the best!"

"Can you teach me your ways?" Natsu adds, still flabbergasted over how well everything is working out.

Levy shrugs, "I guess I can try."

"Natsu you have as much romantic sensibilities as a chicken bone," Lucy sighs.

"But I'm willing to learn!" Natsu argues.

Levy pauses, but smiles, "Sure. I like a good challenge. Natsu, we'll make a romantic expert out of you yet!"

"Nice!"

x

"But how do I tell if she likes me back?" Erza counters Mira's advice. She glances back over to Lucy, and Levy has joined the group at the table. Levy tells Lucy something, and Lucy turns towards Erza, flipping her hair out of her face as she does. Erza feels the heat rising to her cheeks at just the glance, but then Lucy smiles and Lucy's a goner.

Erza is still staring at Lucy, even after she returns to the conversation at her table. Mira has to snap her fingers a few times to get Erza's attention again.

"Oh, uh," Erza turns back to Mira and Cana, embarrassed that she got that lost in her own head.

"Oh my," Cana laughs. "You have it baaaad."

"Yes, you do," Mira agrees. "But, that was a _very_ flirty look Lucy gave you. I'd say she's as infatuated as you are."

"Yep, that was a Grade A flirty look," Cana adds. "So, go get your girl."

"Just tell her how you feel," Mira repeats.

Erza pauses and takes the last bite of her cheesecake, still trying to think through everything. In the end, all of the new information is just crowding her mind, not really coming together to form anything coherent.

Erza suddenly stands, stating, "I have to clear my head."

"Belaying your confession isn't going to make anything better," Mira warns Erza, but she's already turned around and headed out of the guild. Hopefully, fresh air would help.

x

"So, you just learned from reading a buncha romance novels?" Natsu questions.

"Yeah, but the good ones, not the bad ones," Levy instructs Natsu. Lucy's enjoying watching Levy blow Natsu's mind by introducing him on how he can learn how to be romantic.

"Can I like, watch romcoms instead?" Natsu suggests. "I'm not a big reader."

"Unless it's my work you try to sneak a peek at!" Lucy points out.

Natsu shrugs, "But that's because I'm interested it and also not allowed to read it so that makes it tempting."

Lucy sighs, and Levy rolls her eyes. She stops mid roll though, and grapples Lucy's arm. She shakes it and whispers, "Lucy! Erza's on the move!"

Lucy discreetly looks over her shoulder and watches Erza head out of the guild. She turns to Levy, "Thanks. I'll see you later."

"Tell me all about it," Levy says as Lucy stands up.

"And me too!" Natsu adds.

Lucy nods to the both of them and follows Erza out of the guild. When she's out of sight, Natsu turns to Levy, "So like, the romcom thing."

Levy sighs, "Maybe. It has to be a decent one. But, there's on more important thing you need to know about romantic advice."

"What?" Natsu asks.

Levy looks over to the bar, where Mira and Cana are already exchanging betting money. Levy grins, "How to make bank."

x

Erza briskly walks out of the guild, the cool air hitting her face. It's February, but the month has decided to give them a peak at spring with slightly warmer weather. Erza tries to focus on the crystal blue sky as she walks further away from the guild but is shocked back to thoughts of her crush when they call after her.

"Hey! Erza!" Lucy shouts as she runs up. Erza almost trips over her feet but catches herself so she doesn't make a bigger fool of herself. Lucy stops next to Erza and gives her a sweet smile, "What are you doing, leaving the guild so early?"

"I could say the same for you," Erza replies, her brain somehow acting normally and helping her respond even though her heart is beating so fast.

"I left a book I borrowed from Levy at home," Lucy answers. "So, now you."

Erza glances back up at the clear sky, "It's such a beautiful day, I couldn't stay indoors."

"That's fair. It is really beautiful," Lucy says, but she's not looking at the sky, she's looking right at Erza. "Do you want to walk to my apartment with me? It's too nice of a day to spend it alone."

"Uh," Erza's mind is breaking it's resolve, as it's becoming more and more obvious that Lucy is flirting with her. "Y-yes."

"Great!" Lucy chimes.

They continue on their way, mostly in silence. That's mainly because Erza is too busy trying to calm her heart and clear her mind. She's just going to walk to her friend's apartment then back to the guild. Nothing more.

Lucy hops onto the edge of the canal, and balances on it as she walks. Erza's mind is clear enough that she's about to remind Lucy to be safe, but Lucy beats her and asks, "So Erza, you don't date a lot, do you?"

"Uh, not really," Erza mumbles. She has no idea where Lucy's going with this, but she hopes she knows where it will end. "I guess uh, I'm just wait . . . waiting for the right person."

Lucy leans forward, curiously, "Like who?"

"Well, uh," Erza doesn't know how to say 'you', though it's only one word and should be so easy to say. Her heart might burst out of her chest first.

Lucy hops off the canal, right in front of Erza. She almost runs into Lucy, who stares at her and asks, "Could I be the right person?"

Erza mind and heart work together for once, and she answers, "You already are."

Lucy grins, "Really?"

Erza can only nod.

"Then would you like to go on a date with me?" Lucy says, still smiling.

"R-right now?" Erza stutters.

"It doesn't have to be . . . but we're already away from the guild," Lucy suggests. She holds out her hand, "So why not?"

Erza takes her hand, "Then let's go."

X

I'm sorry that this looks weird, line breaks aren't fucking working. Thanks for suffering with me and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter at least!


	5. Wisdom

For some reason, Erza hates the doctor. And she hates the dentist even more. She trusts Wendy and Porlyusica, however, the two cannot perform wisdom teeth removal surgery. And no matter how much Lucy badgers Erza about it, she will not go and see a dentist about her slowly imploding teeth.

"It's gonna be worse in the long run," Lucy reminds Erza one morning.

"I'll be fine," Erza insists.

"No, you won't."

"Yes, I will."

Lucy sighs. They can go back and forth in circles for hours beyond breakfast, as evident by the pass few days of contradictory arguments, so she'll just have to deploy her newest scheme.

They sit in silence for a moment before Lucy points out, "Y'know our anniversary is in a month."

"I do know that, I put it on the calendar," Erza says with a small smile.

"And I may have an early surprise," Lucy adds.

Erza raises her eyebrows, "You do? Why so early?"

"Well, it's got some time contains so it has to be done early," Lucy insists. "Today would be a good day to it. It's beautiful outside."

"Then let's go," Erza agrees. "Though, will there be breakfast there? We haven't eaten yet since we were talking about dentists."

"Of course!' Lucy says. "Now, the place it's at is a part of the surprise, so," she pulls a blindfold out of her pocket and waves it in front of Erza's face.

Erza doesn't answer, just stares at the blindfold surprised at how prepared Lucy is. She quips, "Usually you're the one putting blindfolds on."

Lucy frowns, "You want to go to the surprise or not?"

Erza takes the blindfold, "Yes. It can't be anything bad."

Twenty minutes after guiding Erza through the streets of Magnolia, the two make it to their destination.

"Why does it smell like fluoride and despair?" Erza asks as they step through the door, a little bell rings to signal their arrival.

"Remove the blindfold and find out," Lucy teases.

Erza does so, and realizes she's been betrayed.

"Why the fuck are we at the dentist office?" Erza demands, turning to Lucy who is giving her a serious look. "I thought we were getting breakfast at a perfectly nice, dentist-free surprise!"

"First off," Lucy begins. "There's a child here, so don't swear."

Erza looks over to the other side of the waiting room, where a mother is glaring at her while her son is disinterestedly playing with a garbage truck in the corner.

"Two," Lucy continues. "You need to get your wisdom teeth removed. They're close to imploding and I know that you're in pain though you insist on shrugging it off. So please, let's sit down and wait to be called in."

"I don't consent,' Erza argues.

"I have a note from Porlyusica saying that you have to have them removed whether you like it or not."

"Shit."

"There's still a kid here!"

Erza pouts, but she realizes there's no escape, so she lets Lucy guide her to one of the chairs and they sit down.

"And you better not try to escape because I did bring handcuffs," Lucy warns in a whisper, showing Erza the pair in her purse.

"Why are you using our . . ." Erza eyes the kid, who is now staring her. He probably smells her fear or is trying to remind here that this is a child-friendly space. ". . . Private . . . toys . . . to get me to get my wisdom teeth removed?"

Lucy shrugs.

A nurse comes out and calls, "Teeth removal for Charles Luna."

The kid unceremoniously gets up and walks further into the office with his mother close behind. There's no fear in his eyes as he passes through the doors, and honestly . . . it intimidates Erza.

When they're gone, Lucy turns to her, "That kid is taking having their teeth removed better than you."

". . . That's not natural," Erza insists. "There's something unnatural about that child."

Lucy looks back at the door, then to Erza again, ". . . It's a kid."

Erza still doesn't trust him. Or anything about this place. Especially the dentist.

Lucy puts her hand on Erza's knee and tries to comfort her, "I know you don't like the dentist, but you will be worse off if you don't get this surgery done. And your dentist is a professional, he won't make the problem worse. Besides, you'll be asleep during the operation, and I will be right there as you go to sleep and there when you wake up."

Erza shifts in her seat, "Promise?"

"Promise."

The nurse returns, and calls, "Wisdom teeth removal for Erza Scarlet."

Lucy stands up and has to grab Erza's hand to drag her along as well.

"Nervous?" the nurse questions, eyeing Erza.

"Yes," Lucy answers.

"Don't worry," the nurse tries to help as she guides them to the room. "Dr. Skylark is a great dentist, your teeth will be out in no time."

Erza doesn't answer, just lets herself be led down the hall. Once they make it to the operating room, Erza sits down in the chair and Lucy stands by her side until Dr. Skylark comes in.

"Hey!" Dr. Skylark chimes, flashing his perfect teeth. "Are you ready for the surgery?"

"No," Erza says. "But I guess I have no choice."

Dr. Skylark and the nurse make some other preparations, but eventually he turns to Lucy, "I'm sorry, Ms. Heartfilia, we'll have to ask you to leave for now."

"I understand," Lucy says. She turns to Erza, squeezes her hand and kisses her, "You'll be fine, okay? Trust me."

Erza squeezes Lucy's hand back, almost breaking it, but Lucy tries to stay strong and bear through it.

"I love you," Lucy finishes up. "And I'll see you soon."

Erza finally nods, "Alright. I love you too."

With that, Lucy leaves the surgery room to wait it out.

A couple hours later, the nurse comes back out and informs Lucy that the surgery went smoothly and Erza is still asleep. She's invited back into the offices to a small curtained off area where Erza is sleeping in a chair.

"She should wake up soon, but the anesthesia will still be in effect," the nurse explains. "I'll be checking back in soon."

"Okay, thank-you," Lucy says as she sits down next to Erza. Even though she was nervous about the surgery, she seems to be sleeping peacefully for now. She reads through some broachers and has a brilliant idea just as Erza's waking up.

"Hhm," Erza opens her eyes and immediately asks. "Where's m'wif?"

"Where's what?" Lucy questions, pressing the record button on her phone.

"M'wife," Erza repeats.

"Well, we're not married yet, but I am your girlfriend," Lucy says with a laugh.

Erza gets a shocked look on her face, "We aren't? But yer te prettiest person I've ever seen!"

"Aw," Lucy sighs. "You're pretty too."

"Yer prettier," Erza insists.

The nurse comes by and changes the gauze out of Erza's mouth, and she looks extremely confused about it.

"Why do I hafta have this shit in my mouth?" Erza questions.

"Because it's bleeding still after the surgery," Lucy explains.

"Shouldn't the surgery have stopped the bleedin'?" Erza asks.

"It wasn't that type of surgery," Lucy adds.

"Oh," Erza's contempt with that. But then her mind goes back to, "Why aren't we married?"

"I don't know," Lucy continues. "We've talked about."

"We _should_ get married," Erza insists.

Lucy smiles, thinking about the engagement ring hidden at her desk back home, but doesn't say anything else. She laughs adds, "Maybe you should get on it."

"Oh, shit," Erza's eyes go wide. "Maybe I should."

They end all marriage conversation there, since the nurse comes back over and fills Lucy in on the recovery process. Then, they're cleared to go, so Lucy takes Erza back home. By the time they make it to their apartment, Erza's close to falling asleep, so Lucy gets her into bed and waits for her to wake up.

In the meantime, she shares the videos she took with their friends.

When Lucy goes into their bedroom to change the gauzes, Erza is sitting up, fully awake and not high. She glares at Lucy as she mumbles, "You betrayed me. I thought we were going out to breakfast, but instead I got my teeth ripped out."

Lucy shrugs, "It had to be done. I don't think you'd like having your teeth imploded more than going into surgery."

Erza frowns and adds, "You also weren't here when I woke up."

"You were awake," Lucy argues. "You were just high. And then you fell back to sleep."

"Oh," Erza still frowns.

"You wanna see the video?"

"Lucy!"

Lucy laughs and sits down at the edge of the bed, "Maybe later then, now, I have to change the gauze."

"I can do it," Erza insists.

"Do you really want to touch the bloody and gross gauze? I'm offering to do it for you."

"Okay, fair."

Lucy changes the gauze, but Erza is still upset. Lucy rubs Erza's arm, "Are you okay? Besides from being tricked into surgery."

"I'm going to hold that against you for a while," Erza huffs. "But . . . I'm not going to be able to eat anything solid for a while, am I?"

"Yep, just yogurt, pudding, soup, and any drink of your choice" Lucy answers.

"So, no strawberry cheesecake?" Erza pouts.

"No . . ." Lucy begins. "But, I did find some strawberry cheesecake pudding at the store. You want that?"

Erza lights up, " _Yes_."

Lucy chuckles but leaves and gets the supposed pudding for Erza. Lucy had gone out and bought it while she was sleeping. Knowing Erza, she bought out the store's supply and it now took up a full shelf of space in their fridge. She only takes Erza one cup, to start with something small.

Lucy returns, and Erza grasps for the pudding, but she holds it out of her reach, "Wait, this is the last gauze. You still have to wait a bit before you can eat."

"Why do you taunt me?" Erza counters.

"Soon," Lucy insists. "But . . . are you truly angry at me?"

Erza sighs, "I . . . suppose not. But I am going to be peeved for a couple days."

"Understandable," Lucy laughs. "Your gums are swollen. You should be able to eat now."

Erza hands shoot out and she takes the strawberry cheesecake pudding. Of course, she has to get the gauze out first, so Lucy helps out with that. Then, Erza's good.

And strawberry cheesecake pudding isn't as good as the real thing, but it'll work as a substitute for now.


End file.
